An earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shook the country of Haiti on January 12. Several U.S. universities, including the University of Illinois, scrambled to account for their students located in Haiti.

Julie Misa, director of International Student and Scholar Services, said there are currently two students from Haiti enrolled at the University.

The University took an immediate response to trying to contact the students.

Misa said the students were sent emails on the Wednesday morning following the earthquake, but as of Tuesday neither student had responded. Both are graduate students at the University, Misa added.

“My email was meant to offer them support and to invite them to contact us if they need anything,” Misa said.

In situations such as these, Misa said the University uses the students’ emergency information to make all attempts to contact them.

“The University asks each student to provide emergency contact information, which is stored in the Banner system,” Misa said. “We have dealt with situations such as this in the past, most recently when an earthquake hit China last spring. In those cases we try to offer our support to students in any way possible.”

From the study abroad perspective, the University did not have students in Haiti.

“There are no Illinois students in Haiti (studying abroad), and there were none signed up to go in the near future, so we didn’t see an effect (from the earthquake) in that way,” said Erika Ryser, associate director in the Study Abroad Office.

Ryser said the University does not have to worry about students studying abroad in Haiti.

“The Study Abroad Office does not have any programs in Haiti,” said Sharie Jamison, director of the Study Abroad Office.

Like the ISSS, the study abroad office has certain precautions that are taken into account for students in other countries during emergency situations.

“We work with the office of University Risk Management to address concerns,” Ryser said. “We also rely on our partners abroad, the U.S. State Department, and the international network of education abroad professionals to provide continual information on safety in our host locations.”

Ryser said the University monitors the host countries ahead of time to ensure the safety of students.

“Before we approve a program abroad, we evaluate it not only for its academic strengths, but also for its health and safety standards, including emergency response plans,” Ryser said.

Although the University did not have any students studying abroad in Haiti, it is necessary to keep emergency response plans in mind.

“We typically write or call our partner abroad, such as a host university, to see what instructions and follow-up they have provided to students,” Ryser said. “We help the partner abroad with communication between students, parents, Illinois, and other parties that need information or assistance.”